Armed Forces: Rehabilitation and Recovery

Lord Astor of Hever: My right honourable friend the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Mark Francois) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Today marks the Defence Recovery Capability reaching full operating capability following initial operating capability in 2010. Today also formally launches the Recovery Career Services programme, which delivers an individualised career service that assists our wounded, injured and sick personnel to achieve a sustainable and fulfilling second career.
	The Defence Recovery Capability ensures that wounded, injured and sick personnel have access to all the key services and resources needed to help them either return to duty or make an effective transition to an appropriately skilled civilian life. This care is delivered across the defence community by the combined efforts of the services and the service charities responding to carefully tailored individual recovery plans setting out a recovery pathway.
	The Defence Recovery Capability is a Ministry of Defence (MoD)-led initiative designed to deliver co-ordinated support to wounded, injured and sick service personnel. This is delivered in partnership with Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion and is supported by other service charities and organisations. This capability is underpinned by substantial financial investment by both the MoD and its partners, Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion; this represents the largest single charitable contribution to the Armed Forces community in British history.
	Each person who is supported by the Defence Recovery Capability will get an individual tailored recovery plan, which integrates all aspects of recovery including medical care, welfare, housing, education, re-skilling, work placements, employment issues and opportunities to either return to duty or transition to civilian life.
	The personnel recovery centres have been designed to create a military-style environment where our personnel can recover. They are located at Catterick, Colchester, Edinburgh, Plymouth, Sennelager in Germany, Tidworth and the Battle Back Centre in Lilleshall. These centres facilitate and conduct recovery activities in support of individual recovery plans. The Battle Back Centre uses adaptive sport and adventurous training as a vehicle to help wounded, injured and sick personnel focus on what they can do through the multi-activity courses that are run there.
	Complex or lengthy cases are transferred to personnel recovery units which are in key locations around the country and deliver high-quality command and care in order to gain the right outcome for the individual
	and the MoD. Personnel are allocated a personnel recovery officer as their military point of contact, who will provide support throughout the period of recovery whilst in service.
	The new Recovery Career Services programme is a vocational, needs-based service, offering the greatest levels of support to those who face the most significant barriers to employment given their medical condition. It provides nationwide specialist employment consultants, a relationship team, a service requirements team and specialist web-portal access. The Recovery Career Services programme is a collaborative venture between the service charities, Oxfordshire County Council and the MoD, which is closely aligned with the Career Transition Partnership. It will ensure wounded, injured and sick personnel are given tailor-made support to assist them in competing effectively in the civilian employment market. Further information is available via the website http://www.recoverycareerservices.org.uk.
	The MoD wishes to express its thanks to its charitable partners for their continued support to the Defence Recovery Capability, which has helped to make the achievement of full operating capability a reality.

Children: Sexual Abuse

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: My honourable friend the Solicitor-General (Oliver Heald) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:
	The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has today launched a public consultation on his new interim guidelines for prosecuting cases involving child sexual abuse.
	The guidelines set out the new approach that prosecutors should take when reviewing cases of child sexual abuse and how they should look at the overall credibility of the allegation of abuse. The guidelines are intended to cover the range of child sexual abuse, including the abuse usually characterised as child sexual exploitation.
	The guidelines have been issued on an interim basis as they are the subject of a public consultation exercise that will last for three months. The DPP will publish his final guidelines later this year once he has considered the responses to the consultation.
	Copies of the interim guidelines have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	The DPP's interim guidelines are being published at the same time as new guidance for the police is being issued by the College of Policing, which is also the subject of public consultation.

Courts: Recorded Pre-trial Cross-examinations

Lord McNally: My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Chris Grayling) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Government are committed to improving the experience of witnesses in court to ensure that they are supported to give their best evidence. Recent harrowing court cases involving children and other vulnerable people have highlighted that there is more we can do.
	For some time now, the Ministry of Justice has been working with our partners in the criminal justice system to actively look at the issues around implementing Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. Section 28 would allow for recorded pre-trial
	cross-examination of vulnerable and intimidated witnesses in cases where there may be a delay in the holding of the trial or where the nature of the case is such that the witness could be cross-examined in advance of trial.
	I am confirming today the Government’s plan to pilot Section 28 by the end of the year in three Crown Court locations—Liverpool, Leeds and Kingston-Upon-Thames. The pilots will run for six months followed by an assessment period, after which we will consider how best to take this measure forward.